Ruggero Eugeni

This article examines the Lytro Illum, a ‘plenoptic’ or ‘light-field’ camera. This device captures information on the colour, intensity and angle of incidence of each incoming photon and uses that to reconstruct the three-dimensional environment of the scene in the frame. The output file is an image that is quite easy to navigate and refocus. This type of image derives from the hybridization of digital photography, computer vision and computer-generated imaging within the fast-growing broader field of computational photography...

Il saggio tratteggia l’evoluzione della rappresentazione dell’Olocausto nelle opere cinematografiche e televisive.

RIASSUNTO L’intervento analizza il video One day..., diffuso viralmente nell’aprile 2012. Il video costituisce la mossa di lancio del Google Glass, un paio di occhiali ad alta tecnologia che permettono sia di interagire con forme di realtà aumentata, sia di condividere la rappresentazione della propria esperienza percettiva in prima persona con altri soggetti. In primo luogo, il video viene analizzato come esempio di uso del first person shot, una figura stilistica intermediale oggi estremamente diffusa; in quanto tale, il video esibisce la presenza di un corpo- sensore situato attivamente all’interno del mondo diegetico, caratterizzato da un’oscillazione tra un polo soggettuale-umano e uno oggettuale-tecnologico. In secondo luogo, il video viene analizzato in base all’idea di soggetto e di costituzione della soggettività che esso implica: attraverso un confronto con alcune teorie contemporanee, viene messo in rilievo il carattere situato e attivo del soggetto e la natura rappresentazionale della sua costituzione. Nelle conclusioni viene profilata l’ipotesi che una simile concezione della soggettività, definita ‘relazionale’, possieda una natura storica e culturale, e che tenda oggi a soppiantare la concezione ‘posizionale’, rappresentata dal dispositivo prospettico. SUMMARY The essay analyses the video titled One day..., broadcasted virally in April 2012. This video originated the launching of Google Glass, a high technology pair of glasses which allow you both to interact with forms of augmented reality, and to share with other subjects the representation of your personal perceptive experience. First of all, the video is analyzed as an example of the use of first person shot, a stylistic multimedia figure very popular today; the video as such shows the presence of a body-sensor actively positioned inside the diegetic world, characterized by the swing between a subject-human pole and an object-technological pole. Secondly, the video is analyzed according to the idea of the subject and the related construction of subjectivity: through the comparison of certain contemporary theories, the active character of the subject and the representational nature of its constitution have been observed. The conclusions outline the hypothesis that a similar conception of subjectivity, defined ‘relationship-wise’, has a historical and cultural nature, and which today would tend to replace the ‘positional’ conception, represented by the perspective device.

RÉSUMÉ Dans leur développement historique les médias modernes ont fait référence à deux logiques différentes de trace. Les médias de base mécanique, photographique, comme le cinéma, se référent à une idée, en tant qu’inscription: l’image et le son reproduits dérivent d’une fixation pour l’empreinte et sont donc le témoignage durable de l’événement qui les a créés. Les médias électroniques tels que la radio, la télévision et le vidéo en général, nous reportent à une idée de trace en tant que transcription. Images et sons proviennent d’une enquête qui apporte différents éléments sensoriels au sein d’une représentation unitaire et permet le monitorage d’un environnement et son évolution. Quand les médias à base mécanique et ceux à base électronique ont vécu dans un espace social, les deux logiques de l’inscription et la transcription ont constitué un important principe d’individuation (c’est-à-dire de distinction et d’articulation) des expériences de différents médias. Les médias numériques mettent en oeuvre, à l’égard de ce cadre, certains changements majeurs: ils font converger et interagir étroitement les processus d’inscription et les processus de transcription, en outre, ils rendent aussi immédiat le traçage et la présence de l’utilisateur, et enfin adoptent une hypertrophie des processus de traçage. Résultant de tels changements, un paradoxe qui caractérise profondément le paysage actuel: une de – identification des médias est une sur – identification des situations d’utilisation des médias eux-mêmes. L’article explore ce paradoxe en analysant les processus de trace que l’on trouve dans le jeu vidéo Spore (Will Wright, Maxis / Electronic Arts, 2008), et propose des interprétations à cet égard. SUMMARY In their historical development, the modern media have referred to two different logics of the trace. The photography- based mechanical media, such as cinema, refers to an idea of trace as inscription: the image and sound reproduced are due to a fixation for leaving a mark and are thus witness of the event sustained production that created them. The electronic media such as radio, television and video in general, refer to an idea of trace as transcription: images and sounds derive from a survey which brings back different sensory elements within a unitary representation and allows monitoring an environment and its changes. When the media based on mechanics and those based on electronics have lived together within a social space, the two logics of inscription and transcription have constituted an important principle of individuation (that of distinction and articulation) of different media experiences. Digital media implement, with respect to this framework, some major shifts: they make some processes of inscription and transcription converge and interact closely; also make immediate the traceability of the presence and actions of the user, and finally put up a hypertrophy tracking process. From these profound changes arises a paradox which deeply characterizes the current landscape: a de-individuation of the media corresponds to a hyper-individuation of the situations used by the media themselves. The article explores this paradox by analyzing the processes of tracing to be found in videogame Spore (Will Wright, Maxis / Electronic Arts, 2008), and proposes interpretations in this regard.

Il testo di Rick Altman si pone come punto di riferimento imprescindibile per il dibattito sui generi cinematografici.